


blessed mistrust

by wordscavenger



Series: beyond the garden's gates [3]
Category: Detroit Evolution - Fandom, Detroit: Become Human (Video Game), octopunk media - Fandom
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Asexual Character, Case Fic, Connor (Detroit: Become Human) Whump, Gavin Reed Whump, M/M, Octopunk Media, Please read the warnings for chapter 3, Post-Battle for Detroit (Detroit: Become Human), Post-Octopunk Media's Detroit: Evolution Fan Film, Romance, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-12
Updated: 2020-08-30
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:02:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 19,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24673537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wordscavenger/pseuds/wordscavenger
Summary: Lieutenant Hank Anderson has the advantage of working decades in law enforcement with multiple solved homicides under his belt.Nines and Connor have the advantage of being created with bodies and minds built specifically for engaging in investigative work.And Gavin? Well, Gavin had the advantage of growing up in a world where life made sure he knew just what kind of evil can exist inside even the most seemingly innocuous kind of person.So when Gavin’s instincts tell him something is off with an unassuming rookie cop, no one believes him.And then Connor goes missing.
Relationships: Hank Anderson/Connor, Upgraded Connor | RK900/Gavin Reed
Series: beyond the garden's gates [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1783957
Comments: 56
Kudos: 275





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Literally planned on writing one fanfic and here I am with number three and planning on writing at least one more!
> 
> Thank you for your support in the previous stories! I hope you all enjoy this one as well!

* * *

“Here is the stored evidence from the 2035 Santiago case, Detective Gavin.”

Gavin flicked his eyes upwards from where they had been scanning the data screen at his work desk in the police precinct. He felt both annoyed at being interrupted and a pinprick of excitement at the delivery.

A clean-shaven, guileless looking uniformed office stood in front of his desk, keeping a death grip on a nondescript evidence box in his hands. The man couldn’t have been much older than ordering a beer legally, but his soft baby blue eyes that matched his soft cheeks and wide chin didn’t help. The uniform looked heavy on him, almost like the fabric itself were weighing him down just as much as all the responsibilities that came with carrying a badge. 

“About damn time,” Gavin said, and nodded his heads towards the empty space at the edge of his desk. “Leave it there.”

“Yes, sir,” the officer said. He promptly deposited the evidence box labeled _Santiago, Evans 2035 Case #7098_ in the space Gavin had indicated.

Gavin turned back to focus on his data screen, a silent flicker of dismissal. He was scanning the case file that went with the evidence box now on his desk. The night before, unidentified DNA had been located by CSU in a double-homicide case he was heading. Nines’ had analyzed the DNA and was surprised to find that it had originally been found in an older homicide. It was a flimsy lead, but worth a look into at best.

Just as he was about to take another sip of his long tempered coffee, Gavin heard the man clear his throat, an obvious attempt to indicate he was still there.

Gavin looked back up. “You lost rookie?”

“I was hoping I could ask you a question, sir.” The man titled his head to the side as he spoke, another sign of his youth.

Gavin hated it when people asked him questions when he was working.

But, he really did like being called sir.

“Fine,” Gavin said. He put his coffee mug down and leaned back in his chair. “You caught me in a good mood. But make it quick, I don’t got all night.”

“Course,” the man said. He folded his hands behind his back. “If you don’t mind me asking, what’s it like working with an android?”

“Pain in the ass,” Gavin immediately answered, then continued with a shrug. “But they’ve got their uses.”

“I can imagine. Besides the obvious perks, how do you like working with an RK900 model?” The officer continued. “I’ve heard both good and bad things.”

Gavin answered with another shrug. “Nines is still the most advance model CyberLife rolled out before everything went to shit. Like most androids, he’s a goddamn know-it-all. But that means he’s also annoyingly right like ninety percent of the time, so there you go. ”

“Yeah, I bet that’d get old real fast,” the man conceded with a sympathetic smile. “Do you ever feel like his deviancy impacts the cases that you work on at all?”

That question gave Gavin pause.

A very subtle, all too familiar ding of warning began ringing in the back of Gavin’s head. He finally glanced at the name badge of the officer, a Munro, J., and as he folded his arms across his chest he looked over the man once more. Nothing new stood out, he was still as green as any rookie cop Gavin had ever seen. But now that original flicker of interest in his eyes had grown to resemble smoldering embers refusing to be put out.

“S’not an issue. Why you ask?” Gavin kept his voice casual, and a touch too many poker games had ensured he knew how to keep a straight face when he was holding back his cards.

Munro unclasp his hands and slid them into his standard-issue pants pockets. “I’m hoping to make detective one day. Figured the way things were going I’d end up with an android partner eventually, so I might as well learn as much as I can about them now to be better prepared.”

Gavin could admit, that was a legitimate answer. But he didn’t make detective by believing every word that came out of a person’s mouth. He also wasn’t the type of cop to typically base his beliefs on ‘gut-feelings’, but the man’s continued interest in Nines did not settle well with him.

“Yeah, good luck with that,” Gavin said. He shifted in his chair and pulled himself back towards his desk, a wordless indication that the conversation was at its end.

Munro nodded. Message received. “Thank you for your time, Detective.”

Gavin said nothing and instead picked up his coffee, cold now, and went back to looking at his screen. When Munro’s back was no longer in sight he put his coffee down and pulled out his phone. He began to type.

_How long until you’re back at the precinct?”_

Gavin placed his phone down. He knew Nines wouldn’t miss the message, the words would appear in his peripheral like a hallucinogenic vision. Nines was working with Chris Miller on an interview with an android witness from the homicide case, but as far as he knew they were both heading back to the department after they were done.

Nines’ quickly replied _. An hour. At the most_.

That was fine. Gavin sighed and sat back in his chair. He could be overreacting, it wouldn’t be the first time.

His phone buzzed again.

_Why do you ask? Do you miss me?_

Gavin’s face twisted into a half-scowl, half smile he couldn’t stop from growing. He rubbed at the bridge of his nose to try and hide what he knew was the faintest rush of red tinting his cheeks. How Nines could still make him feel as love-sick as a hormonal teenager trapped pinning for their first crush was beyond him.

And yeah, he did miss him. Not that he would ever tell him that, though.

 _My coffee’s cold._ He typed back.

Nines’ reply came back almost instantly.

_The coffee machine doesn’t bite, Gavin. I made it promise it wouldn’t._

This time Gavin couldn’t stop his smirk from growing into a full-blow grin.

_Not taking any chances tin-can. Hit me up when you’re back._

Feeling a little bit better after their flirtatious exchange, Gavin grabbed the evidence box, slid it under his desk, and then settled in to wait.

* * *

Gavin found Nines in the break room, standing unmoving over a percolating coffee pot. His LED was spinning yellow, which Gavin knew meant he was lost in thought. He didn’t want to interrupt Nines’, but he also didn’t want to just stand there doing nothing, watching him like some creeper.

He walked over to the small kitchenette, turned around, and pushed himself up so that he could sit on the counter next to Nines. While waiting for Nines to come out of his trance, he looked over his partner.

God, he loved Nines face. He loved how it could smooth out into a softness when Nines looked at him; a sense of gentle affection and protectiveness he never knew androids could possess. He would never admit it, but he also revered how intense Nines could become when working a case; the stoic look Nines’ had perfected that would demand people not underestimate him because he was an android.

But mostly, he loved Nines eyes. When they were wrapped up together, convalescing after a shared intimate moment, Gavin could see every emotion Nines possessed for Gavin flickering behind his eyes. And when they were pinned on him, focused solely on him, he felt like he could die knowing he was finally, truly seen.

Suddenly Gavin realized those eyes had turned towards him. Nines was out of his trance and back into the real world.

“Detective Reed,” Nines said, a little surprised to see Gavin beside him. Despite the official title, Nines voice dripped with warmth. “I have arrived to save you from the dastardly coffee machine and to procure you a fresh, hot cup of coffee.”

“Took you long enough,” Gavin said. He watched Nines’ hands move as the worked to put his coffee together. “You said an hour. What’d you guys do, take the scenic route back? I could have saved you the trip. It’s Detroit, there isn’t one.”

Nines gave Gavin a wry smile at his poor attempt at humor. “The interview took slightly longer than anticipated. The witness, the android, she was reluctant to discuss matters with Detective Miller.”

“I get that,” Gavin said. Human and android relations were still rocky at best, which was why Gavin wanted Nines with Miller. He was a cop, but still one of their kind, and more likely to trust him than a human.

“As do I. But Detective Miller is adamant in trying to learn how to become more…approachable, I would say, to androids.” He slowly poured the coffee into the mug. “I have a feeling he is still feeling the after effects of his position in the revolution.”

They both were familiar with Chris Miller’s past involvement with the android revolution, and the regret he carried for his violent actions he thought, at the time, were necessary.

Gavin looked at Nines LED. “Is that what you were thinking about? Just now?”

Nines nodded as he handed Gavin the steaming coffee mug. Gavin accepted, making sure their fingers brushed gently against each other before separating.

Nines’ eyes rose and lingered on Gavin’s, remaining steady as he drank in the sight.

When Gavin took his first sip, the taste perfect as always, Nines broke the contact and began to speak.

“Yes. I was thinking of that. I appreciate Detective Miller’s eagerness to redeem himself, but it is an issue that cannot be forced. Each situation will always be different. Each android will be different.”

Gavin nodded. “Maybe he needs to find a different outlet to work on letting that regret go. Like, I don’t know, be some kind of human liaison for an android support group or something.”

Nines blinked, surprised. “That is actually a sufficient idea, Gavin.”

“Hey,” Gavin scowled at Nines wide eyes. “I’ve got ideas.”

“You do,” Nines replied. He folded his arms and turned so that his back was leaning against the counter. “Whether they are good or not however can often be disputed.”

“The thanks I get,” Gavin muttered and sipped his coffee again. “You’re lucky you make a damn good cup of joe, or we’d be having words.” He slid off the counter, placing the coffee down where he had just been sitting.

“Yes,” Nines answered. “Why else would you keep me, an android specifically designed for investigative law enforcement, around this police precinct besides my impeccable coffee making skills?” His voice dripped in sarcasm, but there was a light teasing in his eyes.

Gavin bit his tongue from forming what he knew would no doubt be a perfect retort. He and Nines could go back and forth like this for hours, but there were other, more important things Gavin wanted to discuss with him.

Instead of answering Nines’ question, he turned so that he was standing in front of him, and asked, “Do you know an officer James Munro?”

Nines eyebrows narrowed slightly in confusion at the change in topic. This was not where he expected the conversation to suddenly go.

Gavin watched as Nines LED turned yellow as he accessed his memory cache, his eyes still. After a few moments Nines blinked, coming out of his HUD. “Officer James Munro. Yes. He’s worked detail at some crime scenes we’ve covered. I’ve never had a direct conversation with him, though. He’s a DPD rookie of only a year, and he has no strikes or warnings against him.” Nines tilted his head to the side. “Why do you ask?”

“Cause he was asking about you, earlier,” Gavin said.

“That’s unexpected,” Nines said. “What did he say?”

Gavin gave him a rundown of their brief conversation. Nines listened without interrupting, not even to comment when Gavin told him that his deviancy had been brought up.

After Gavin finished, Nines was quiet for a moment as he considered what Gavin had said. “His reasoning for his line of questioning does seem legitimate. Only a small handful of Detectives have android partners here, and I would think you are a bit more approachable than Lieutenant Anderson. Given your age and ranking, of course.”

Gavin frowned at Nines casual response and lack of skepticism. He folded his arms and huffed out an annoyed breath. “You don’t find it suspicious?”

Nines shook his head. “Not at all. I have never detected any hostility or questionable behavior from Officer Munro. And your interaction with him seemed harmless enough.”

Well, Nines had him there. There wasn’t anything in their conversation that could be outwardly considered justifiably worrisome. And he’d have been laughed out of HR if he even tried to make a fuss.

And yet, the conversation left him with a knot in his stomach he couldn’t shake loose.

“Fine. Have it your way,” Gavin said. “I just wanted to let you know he was sniffing around.”

“Thank you for your concern,” Nines said, and he meant it.

“Just,” Gavin began, then hesitated before speaking again. He couldn’t quite let it go yet. “Just let me know if he says or does anything that rubs you the wrong way, okay?”

Nines gave Gavin a placating smile that hinted he thought Gavin was overreacting. “If you remember correctly, Gavin, I am more than capable of taking care of myself. I was designed to handle the physical dangers commonly found in aggressive environments typical of a career in law enforcement.”

Gavin narrowed his eyes. As much as Nines annoyed the crap out of him on a daily basis, he didn’t get nearly as pissed off at him as much anymore, not since they began their relationship almost six months ago and things had changed so drastically between them.

But there were days, and times, when Nines could just be so damn infuriating it made Gavin want to cuss out a string of slurs and verbal abuse to stay ringing in Nines’ ears for days. 

Instead, Gavin gritted his teeth and mentally pushed back some choice words, a feat he would only save for Nines, and fixed him with a hard stare.

Without warning, Gavin stepped forward in front of Nines and placed both of his hands on the counter behind him, trapping the man between his open arms. His face was close to Nines, and he could see Nines’ eyes flicker with curiosity at what Gavin was doing.

When Gavin spoke, his tone was low and serious, not an inch of space for their usual banter.

“The last I remember correctly, _Nines_ , was when I told you I didn’t like the way someone spoke about you, you ended up half-dead in an ally-way.”

Nines’ smirk fell, and his LED spun red.

Gavin slowly continued in his same tone, his voice no louder than a low growl. “I’m not fucking around here, Nines. You will tell me if he says or does anything to you. Got it?” 

Nines stared at Gavin, his eyes wide with surprise. Gavin rarely ever showed such an intense, protective side. If Nines had considered it, he wouldn’t have believed this side really even existed. But it was currently on full display.

“Yes,” Nines said after a short moment of silence.

Gavin nodded, then stepped back and picked up his coffee. “Thanks for the brew.”

He turned to leave and had barely walked a step when Nines quickly grabbed his wrist.

“Gavin,” Nines said. When Gavin turned to look at him, Nines continued. “I am sorry. I shouldn’t have dismissed your concerns so quickly.” He held onto Gavin’s wrist a little tighter. “I sometimes forget that I am not as invincible as I was designed to believe I am.”

“S’fine,” Gavin said quietly.

Nines stepped up to Gavin and kissed him, a quick and chaste apology, but it was enough to send a sharp, electric crackle through Gavin’s body. It was the same gut-punching jolt of love and affection he always felt when Nines kissed him.

They rarely engaged in PDA at the precinct, but occasionally moments like this slipped through.

“I updated my sensors to include Officer Munro as a level threat. If anything happens, I will let you know,” Nines said when he stepped back.

Gavin licked his lips, simultaneously hating how quickly he could forgive Nines, and mentally calculating if he could get away with another kiss. He quickly dismissed the latter thought. The break room was a revolving door, and they were lucky they hadn’t been interrupted as of yet.

“Fine,” Gavin said. “We should get back to work. While you were off joy-riding with Miller, I was drowning in paperwork.”

Nines smirked and rubbed his thumb affectionately across Gavin’s pulse on his wrist before letting go. “Can’t have you doing all the work now, can we?”

“Hell no,” Gavin said, mirroring Nines’ smile. “You’ve seen my spelling.”

“Nothing a few episodes of Sesame Street couldn’t fix I’m sure,” Nines joked.

Now officially done, Gavin swore at him, raised his eyes to the ceiling asking for patience, and walked out of the break room, ignoring Nines punchable smirk trailing behind him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for coming back for chapter 2! I hope you like it!

* * *

Officer James Munro hadn’t been on Gavin’s mind for days.

After their first meeting, and his subsequent minor tiff with Nines afterwards, for nearly three weeks Gavin had kept an apprehensive eye on Munro, cautiously waiting for another sign that his suspicions weren’t just all in his head.

Working in the same precinct meant their paths inevitably would cross, it would be impossible not to. Munro was often at the same crime scenes working street detail, or doing office work around the bull-pen. Those run-ins didn’t bother Gavin so much. The environment was controlled, and Munro was his usual polite self. 

It was when he would come into the precinct to see Munro already chatting up Nines, or heading towards Nines with a wave and a smile when they were at a crime scene.

When that happened, Gavin practically pounced on the two like a breaching shark. Often, by the time he got there, the conversation was completely tame: the day’s weather, the location of the case, an exchange of orders from Nines to Munro. After quickly stepping into the conversation, Gavin would utilize his unique ‘charm’ and before he had completed more than a few sentences, Munro was scurrying away.

Nines tried to hold back his annoyance at Gavin’s over-protectiveness, but more often than not he treated Gavin with a raised eyebrow and huffing his name with fond exasperation.

Gavin didn’t care. Because after about two weeks Munro got the message, and steered clear whenever Gavin and Nines entered the same vicinity as him.

As far as Gavin was concerned, _mission_ _com-fucking-plete_.

So, that day when Gavin walked into his office, a fresh pour of hot joe in his favorite mug, Munro was the last thing on his mind.

Connor, however, was also nowhere near the forefront of his thoughts either, yet the android was sitting in a chair by his desk, patiently waiting for him.

 _Ah blow me_ , Gavin thought to himself when his eyes landed on the android.

Connor looked the same as he always did, dressed smartly in a modified suit and tie courtesy of the DPD. While Nines preferred a more casual look of a plain, black button down shirt and slacks, but they both wore the white jacket to signify their positions of android police detectives.

“Detective Reed,” Connor said when he saw Gavin, and stood. “Might I have a moment of your time?”

“Can’t,” Gavin answered, avoiding his eyes. He quickly walked past Connor and grabbed his leather jacket hanging on the back of his desk chair. “Gotta get rolling. I have a witness to interview.”

Connor nodded towards the steaming coffee in the mug Gavin had placed on his desk. “If you were about to leave, why did you get a fresh cup of coffee?”

Gavin looked down at his mug, then sighed in resignation at being caught. He dropped his jacket back onto his desk, pulled out his chair, and then fell into it with a small huff. He kicked his feet up onto his desk before he gestured towards the chair Connor had been sitting in and said, “Fine. You got me, which means you get five minutes. I do actually have work to do.”

Connor nodded and sat back down, folding his hands on his lap. “Thank you, Detective.” 

Gavin waved a hand towards him before picking up his coffee to take a sip. “Whatever.”

Connor nodded again, then spoke. “I think that you should ask RK900, Nines, to move in with you.”

The hot coffee suddenly became lodged in Gavin’s throat when his body jerked and tensed in surprise. He began coughing and rubbing his hand on his chest.

“Detective,” Connor said, his voice even and without emotion. “You seem to be experiencing some kind of respiratory distress. Would you like me retrieve medical assistance for you?”

“The fuck?” Gavin asked when he got his voice back. “No! And what the hell are you talking about?” He put his feet down from where they had been resting on his desk, and stared at Connor with narrowed eyes. “Why the hell would you think Nines would want to move in with me?”

“As you know, Nines has shared with me the intimate nature of your relationship with him,” Connor said.

Gavin ran a hand down his face. “Oh my God.”

Connor continued, nonplussed. “Based on previous discussions with Nines, I have assessed that he is interested in forming a cohabitation with you. However, he is reluctant to introduce the concept for fear of eliciting a negative response from you.”

“He,” Gavin tried, then shook his head. “Wait, slow your roll there, Robocop. Nines told you he wants to move in with me?”

“Not in so many words,” Connor conceded. “During his visits to Hank’s and my residence-”

“Wha-,” Gavin held up a hand, cutting Connor off. “You and Hank live together?”

“Yes,” Connor said, his voice for the first time electing a tone of emotion: surprise. “I was under the impression that you knew this?”

Gavin shook his head and hotly replied, “No. Why the hell would I know you and Anderson were freaking roommates? This isn’t a goddamn sleepaway camp, man.”

“Detective,” Connor said, folding his hands once more in his lap. “Although Lieutenant Anderson and I do not advertise this, he and I also do not hide the fact that we are romantically involved.”

Gavin knew his mouth had fallen open like a broken dam. 

After remaining silent for a moment, Connor said in halting words, “I would think, given your relationship with Nines, that this concept would not be unsettling for you.” His stature had suddenly become tense, and his LED spun red for a moment before settling on yellow.

That snapped Gavin out of his trance right quick. “Jesus, spare me the lecture. You caught me by surprise and you know it. I know how your sensors work.”

Gavin leaned back in his chair, folding his arms over his chest. “And I don’t have a problem with you and Hank,” he paused for a moment and held up his hands to make air quotes, “cohabitating, or whatever. I just don’t want to think of Anderson romantically involved with anyone. At any time. Ever.” He ran a tired hand over his face. “And Nines know about this?”

“Certainly,” Connor said, visibly relaxing. “As I said earlier, Nines has visited our residence occasionally. He has recently begun questioning the positive and negative attributes of domestic living between a human and a deviant android.”

“Christ,” Gavin muttered.

“Detective, I think Nines has been an impressive influence on your character, and logic would imply that him cohabitating with you would only continue the upwards trajectory.” Connor leaned forward eagerly. “I also thought you should know that androids are excellent living partners. We are very clean, do not need much personal space or housing materials, and the additional cost of living is very low since we can self-regulate body temperature, personal hygiene, and bodily modifications.”

Gavin felt a little nauseous and held up a hand. “Ok stop. Stop. I get the picture. Android’s are a roommate’s wet dream.”

He shifted in his seat and said, “Okay. Let me ask you this, then. You’ve got your own bed buddy. Why the hell do you care about what Nines and I do?”

Connor considered Gavin’s question. His LED spun yellow as he consulted his HUD before he replied, “I believe Nines and I have become quite close during our time working together. We are both relatively newly deviant androids working in a law enforcement environment, and are romantically involved with our human partners. I believe we help each other with aspects of our lives that are hard to share with our partners, as well as other androids.”

Surprised, Gavin said, “I didn’t know you guys talked about that kind of stuff.”

Connor gave Gavin a half-smile. “What did you think we spoke about, Detective?”

Gavin shrugged before folding his arms again, exasperated. “I don’t know, man. Like what’s your favorite binary code, or where’s the best place to buy a thirium latte or some shit?”

Connor let out a small laugh. “Thirium is actually a difficult substance to modify into a caffeinated beverage-”

Gavin tilted his head back and groaned. “Ugh. Not the point.”

Connor stood, that smile still on his face. “I believe my five minutes are up, Detective Reed. I hope you give some thought to what I have said. Thank you for your time.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Gavin said, waving his hand towards Connor. “Fine. Get out of here. Go fetch Hank’s old man medication or whatever.”

Connor, not getting Gavin’s humor, responded, “Hank actually does not require any kind of medication. He is indeed quite fit for his age and even with his difficult history of substance-”

“So not interested, man,” Gavin said quickly. He turned in his chair so he was facing his computer terminal, very much done with this conversation. 

“Of course. Good evening,” Connor said.

Gavin mumbled a barely coherent goodbye as he took more sips of his coffee. He only glanced up to watch Connor head inside the elevators at the end of the hallway, the doors closing on his face.

“Christ,” Gavin muttered and ran a tired hand along his eyes. It was too late in the day to be blindsided with that kind of conversation. Especially when he did not have enough caffeine in his system to even begin sifting through how he felt about anything Connor had said.

Picking up his mug, he took a sip, then mentally pushed aside Connor’s words. For now.

For a long while, probably.

* * *

_**Later that night** _

_Okay...maybe Connor was onto something about this moving in together thing_ , Gavin thought hazily.

His head was nestled on top of Nines’ lap, the rest of his body splayed out on the black leather couch in his apartment. Nines ran a distracted hand through his hair, dragging his long fingers across Gavin’s scalp and occasionally toying with his curls.

Gavin was barely awake at this point, having been lulled into a weak, barely functioning rag doll by Nines’ gentle caresses.

Above him, Nines’ other hand was holding a tablet, looking over the notes for their most recent case files. Gavin hadn’t yet given up trying to get Nines interested in any damn thing in the world other than their work, hence the outdated action-adventure movie playing on the TV in the background. But even Gavin couldn’t muster enough energy to try and keep Nines entertained this evening.

Exhaustion laced through Gavin’s bones like a drug. Their most recent case had been challenging, requiring both men to be on the streets or in the precinct for longer hours than usual. Since Nines could function longer than Gavin, he was forced to stay behind and catch up on work, and hadn’t been able to spend the night with Gavin as much as he normally did. And when Nines wasn’t there, then Gavin didn’t sleep. Or not as well as he did when the android was in his bed with him.

But the killer was caught, and Nines was here tonight. Gavin could tell his body was already all the more relaxed because of it. He planned to enjoy this time together for short while longer, then attempt to draw Nines into the bedroom for his first good night’s sleep in days.

Suddenly, he felt Nines still his hand wrapped up in his curls and let out a surprised, “Hmm.”

“S’matter?” Gavin muttered, his voice heavy with exhaustion.

“It’s Lieutenant Anderson. He’s attempting to contact me.”

“What’s so strange about that?” Gavin asked, his curiosity forcing him to become more awake.

Nines looked down at Gavin. “You do not think it’s awfully late for a phone call?”

Gavin cracked an eye open and looked at the clock below the TV. Nearly midnight.

He rolled onto his back and looked up at Nines before he ran a hand across his eyes, trying to wake himself up. “Answer it.”

Nines frowned. “He can leave a message.”

Gavin pushed himself to sit up and shook his head. “Nah. You know how he and Connor get when they want to talk about a case.” He began to stand and waved a hand towards Nines. “Gotta take a leak anyways.”

“Charming,” Nines replied.

Gavin ignored him and a moment later he heard Nines answer, “Good evening Lieutenant Anderson. How can I help you?”

Gavin shut the door to the bathroom and relieved himself while also trying to shake the sleep from his eyes. It was late, and though he and Nines didn’t need to be at work first thing in the morning, he knew he was going to need to get some sleep eventually if he was going to be at all functional the next day.

When he finished he headed back towards the living room, ready to ask Nines if he wanted to go to bed. He was surprised to round the corner and see Nines sliding on his jacket, a concerned look on his face.

“Whoa. What’s going on?” Gavin asked.

“I need to leave,” Nines said. His voice was tight.

“What? Why?” He stepped towards Nines and grabbed his arm. “Talk to me. What the hell happened?”

“It’s Connor,” Nines said. “He never returned to his residence tonight.”

Gavin blinked, surprised. No wonder Anderson called Nines. He probably was hoping Connor was with them, however unlikely that would be.

“When did Hank last see Connor?”

“Just after their dinner break today,” Nines answered. He was visibly shaken, and his nerves were evident in his every movement. “Hank went to follow a lead on their case and Connor said he had some other things he needed to take care of. They were in touch throughout the day, but Hank hasn’t heard from Connor since this evening.”

“Shit,” Gavin said. He brought his hands to his face. “I saw Connor tonight at the precinct. But he didn’t say where he was going after that or what he was doing.”

Nines’ LED spun yellow. “I just relayed that information to the Lieutenant,” he said. “You spoke with Connor?”

 _Shit again_. “He was hanging around my desk. He wanted to ask me something, but it’s not important.” Gavin began to grab his wallet, phone and keys, then sat on the couch to put on his boots.

“Gavin,” Nines began, “You should stay here.”

“The fuck I will,” Gavin said, not looking up as he worked the laces between his fingers.

Nines tried again. “I can tell that you haven’t been sleeping well, and you need your rest. I’ve already called a taxi-”

“Cancel it,” Gavin said. He stood and walked over to his closet to pull out his leather jacket. “Don’t think I don’t know that you haven’t been in stasis for over almost three days. If I have to stay and rest, so do you.”

“Gavin,” Nines tried again, then stopped speaking when Gavin cut him off.

He was already heading towards his bedroom to retrieve his standard issue when Gavin called out, “If you think I’m going to let you run around Detroit in the middle of the night looking for Connor by yourself then you’re out of your damn mind, Nines.”

Nines’ face tightened for a moment in frustration, then softened when he allowed himself to fully analyze Gavin’s concern. It was strange to have a human, something so much more vulnerable than he, exhibit such fierce protectiveness over him. But, at the same time, he knew it was an extension of Gavin’s love, and that forced him to realize how precious it was.

“I’ve told you before you do not need to worry about me,” Nines conceded. “But I know you will anyway.”

“Perks of having a cop boyfriend,” Gavin said as he exited the bedroom, tucking the gun into his side holster. “Now are we going to go find your work wife or are we just going to wait here until Anderson has a goddamn aneurysm?”

* * *

Seven hours had passed since Nines and Gavin had first heard Connor had gone missing, and they were as clueless to his location as they had been in that initial moment.

Gavin felt like he was in _Groundhog Day_ ; back at his work desk, a cup of coffee in his hand, his desktop terminal whirring with activity.

But the chair beside his desk that Connor had sat in the night before remained empty.

The three men had gathered whatever uniforms the precinct could spare and spent the rest of the night and early morning scouring any parts of the city they could reach looking for Connor. The best they knew he had left Gavin’s desk at half past seven the previous evening, stepped into the precinct’s elevators, and promptly vanished.

Hank was taking it about as well as could be expected.

Gavin risked a glance up at Fowler’s glass office to see Hank throw his hands up in the air once more, his loud shouting barely drowned out. He kicked one of the office chairs before Fowler stood, pointing at Hank and hurling some tuned-out responses of his own.

He would have made a joke about the parents fighting again, but there was nothing humorous about the situation.

As much as Connor drove him up a damn wall with his smug, android-knows-best persona, he didn’t completely hate the guy. He was even a bit worried about him considering he now knew he was closer with Nines than he had previously realized.

And Nines…

Another thought he had considered was that this could possibly be part of a larger anti-android issue, which meant Nines could be in danger as well. Granted, with Connor it could also be as ridiculous as he just became stuck somewhere trying to save a missing cat. Unlikely, yet Gavin couldn’t think of anyone who would want to hurt Connor personally.

Hurt him because he’s an android though? Machine and human relations were still tense, and there were people out there who wouldn’t hold back trying to prove themselves superior through physical force. 

Lost in thought, he almost jerked in surprise when he felt a soft hand on his shoulder. He turned and saw Nines leaning over him, placing a fresh cup of coffee on his desk beside his cold one.

“How are you feeling?” Nines asked. His eyes flickered towards Fowler’s office, watching the argument continue.

“Peachy,” Gavin said sarcastically. He turned in his chair to look at Nines. “Better yet, how’re you?”

Nines gave Gavin an unconvincing smile and sat in his spot on the edge of the desk, folding his arms. “I am worried, but trying to remain hopeful. However, I am concerned for Lieutenant Anderson. The longer Connor is missing, the more his emotional stress impacts his focus.”

“I get that,” Gavin said. “If our positions were reversed and you were missing, you could be damn sure that would be me in Fowler’s office making a fuss and kicking around some chairs.”

Nines’ eyes softened and his jaw clenched. Gavin could see Nines practically squeezing his hands closed so that they wouldn’t reach out and touch him. A casual reassurance that he was here. He was safe.

Gavin just smirked. He loved catching the android off guard, even more so when it came to being affectionate. 

Not knowing how to verbally reply to that comment, Nines’ biocomponent spun blue for a moment before settling on yellow. He then lowered his voice before he spoke. “There is a lead Hank wants to follow up on, but it seems like the captain is reluctant to sanction it.”

“What lead?” Gavin asked, surprised.

“A high-ranking red ice dealer Connor and Hank put away a six months ago was just granted early parole for helping the FBI take down a much larger player they had been hunting for a while. He was released less than a month ago, and Hank recalls him being less than enthusiastic about androids in general,” Nines explained.

Gavin frowned. “It’s a stretch.”

“It’s better than nothing,” Nines said. He hesitated before he continued. “I told Hank that I would go with him, but I would like to ask that you to remain here.”

“Nines,” Gavin began, annoyed.

“Please,” Nines interrupted. “We’ve located the suspect, but he is almost an hour away. If something related to Connor happens here, I know that I can rely on you to handle it.”

Gavin could feel his jaw clenching. He didn’t like the plan, but he understood it.

“Fine,” Gavin said. “But if anything happens to you I’ll kick Hank’s ass. Connor or no Connor.”

“I’ll make a note of that,” Nines said fondly.

Gavin looked over Nines’ lithe frame. Despite his perfect poise and unrelenting energy fueled by high-end technology, Gavin could see the stress and exhaustion outlined throughout his body.

“Hey,” Gavin said and stood. “You sure you’re going to be okay? You’re not used to going so long without stasis. I don’t want you to over-process yourself.”

“I could ask the same of you,” Nines said as Gavin stepped close to him. They were normally able to keep their PDA at a minimum while at work, but Connor’s disappearance had left him feeling a sense of raw, nervous energy he wasn’t sure how to process. The need to reach out and touch and reassure each other was simmering beneath the surface, but they wouldn’t dare let it breach. If they did, they weren’t sure they could ever part.

“I’ll be sure to keep up the caffeine supply while you’re gone,” Gavin muttered, stepping even closer into Nines’ space. He tried to give Nines a light-hearted smile, but he could understand Nines’ concern.

Nines smiled affectionately at Gavin, letting his presence calm him from the stress of the past few hours. As much as he cared and worried about Connor, as long as Gavin was safe he knew he could survive anything.

The door to Fowler’s office suddenly slammed opened. Along with the rest of the officers in the bull-pen, both Nines and Gavin watched as Hank strode down the steps and headed with purpose towards the elevator.

“Nines!” He yelled without looking at their direction. “Let’s go!”

Nines turned back to Gavin and stood. “It seems the Captain gave us the go-ahead.”

“Be careful, Nines. I mean it,” Gavin said. “I’ll let you know if I find out anything about Connor.”

“We’ll do the same,” Nines said.

“Nines!” Hank yelled again.

Nines looked over at Hank in the elevator, holding the door open button, and then back to Gavin, offering him a small nod before he walked towards the elevator.

Gavin watched him enter the car, and then as the doors slid close. He felt a little sick in the stomach when the scene reminded him of Connor leaving the night before.

“Fan-fucking-tastic,” Gavin muttered and sat down ruefully in his chair. He trusted Nines, but he hated the thought of him going into a situation where he couldn’t be there to help if things went sideways.

Well, sitting there in a pissed off mood wasn’t going to find Connor any faster. Gavin figured he would keep searching through his files to see if anything unusual came up about Connor, and reached out to pick up the fresh mug of coffee Nines had given him.

Unfortunately, he had forgotten about his other empty mug, and accidentally knocked it over with his wandering hand. 

Gavin grunted in annoyance and bent forward to pick up. He considered himself lucky that it was already empty, and he didn’t have to worry about cleaning up spilled coffee-

The evidence box.

Tucked under his desk where he had left it weeks ago, the plain white box of evidence from the Santiago case was kicked into the far corner under his desk. He had been meaning to return it back to the evidence locker, but kept forgetting, even with Nines consistently nagging him to do so.

Gavin sat up, an uncomfortable weight settling in his stomach.

“You sonofabitch,” Gavin mumbled to himself. “You _wouldn’t_ …”

Yet all of the warnings he had felt when Munro first arrived at his desk nearly a month ago came rushing back. That Munro could be involved in Connor’s disappearance was even more of a stretch than the lead Nines and Hank were chasing, but it wasn’t impossible either.

He had been so worried about protecting Nines, he hadn’t even thought that Munro would go after someone else. Gavin had provided such a solid barrier between the cop and Nines, if Munro was up to something and needed a replacement…

Gavin swore again, then picked up his work phone and placed a call.

“Good morning! You have reached the main dispatch line of Central Police Plaza. How many I help you today?” A pleasant voice answered.

The main dispatcher was a non-deviated female ST300 android unit that specialized in managing incoming and outgoing communications and administrative duties for the police department.

“Yeah this is Detective Gavin Reed.” He quickly read off his badge number. “I need to know when Officer James Munro clocked out yesterday.”

“I will be happy to find that information for you, Detective Reed. Please hold on for one moment,” she said cheerfully.

Gavin pinched the bridge of his nose. This was way too much pep first thing in the morning with almost no sleep.

“Thank you for your patience, Detective Reed. Our records indicate that Office James Munro relieved his post at thirty five minutes past seven pm yesterday evening. He was scheduled to ‘clock out’ at seven pm, but did not do so at that time.”

His gut twisted again. _Down boy_ , he thought to himself.

“Get me the security footage of the floor he was working on with a twenty minute window past his clock out time,” Gavin said.

“Certainly,” the android answered. He heard typing and a few moments later a message popped up on his screen.

He clicked on the popup, and saw it was various security cameras displaying separate angles of the seventh floor of the precinct. He clicked on the camera that recorded the floor’s elevators, and waited as the footage ran through.

He kept the android on the line. He knew she wouldn’t leave until she was dismissed.

Nearly ten minutes passed as Gavin watched people he knew and didn’t know enter and exit through the elevator’s doors. Eventually, Munro walked into the frame.

His breath caught in his chest as he saw Munro walk towards the elevators, pressing the button to call for the cable car. Soon the doors opened, and Gavin nearly dropped the phone.

In the corner of the cable car he could just barely see Connor standing patiently as Munro entered. He watched Munro turn around, press a button, and the doors slowly closed in front of him.

“Oh shit,” Gavin said.

“Is there a problem I can assist you with, Detective Reed?” the android spoke in his ear, jerking him out of his sudden realization.

“When did Munro clock in this morning?” Gavin asked quickly.

“One moment please,” she replied. “Officer Munro arrived for duty at six am, approximately forty-seven minutes ago. He is scheduled for a full rotation for today.”

Gavin slammed the phone down and stood. He placed his hands on his hips and walked towards the window at the far end of the office that overlooked the Detroit skyline.

He let his mind run a tirade of every swear and slur he knew to get his frustration out of his system. He focused on the tall office buildings in the distance, then the wide, dirty streets below. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and let out a quiet but elongated, “Fuck.”

When he was done, he opened his eyes, and began to think like a cop.

This was bad news no matter which way it played out. It could just be a coincidence that Connor was the last person to see Munro, but since Munro hadn’t come forward to offer this information was another negative mark against him. A Lieutenant’s android partner gone missing after his shift? It would be big news amongst every rank of officers. There was no way Munro didn’t know Connor was missing by now.

Going after a cop, even a rookie, was always a difficult issue. That thin blue line was as thick as a chasm, and making accusations against anyone with a badge took diplomacy, a hell of a lot of evidence, and time.

Time Connor might not have.

Gavin knew what he should do. Go straight to Fowler’s office and lay out what his suspicious were. Communicate with internal affairs. Call Hank and Nines-

His mind screeched to a halt when he thought of Nines.

Growling out one more F-bomb, he instead walked back to his desk, bent down and pulled out the evidence box. He opened the top, rummaged inside for a moment before finding what he was looking for.

“You better thank me for this, Robocop,” Gavin said, and opened the plastic evidence bag in his hands.

* * *

There was an alleyway beside the precinct considered a well-known dumping ground for cops and their criminal counterparts. There were no security camera’s located back there, and Gavin found out about it early in his career when he was looking for a place to smoke and not get hassled by overly health conscious coworkers. Most often it was used for typical alleyway purposes; dumping garbage and dumping people and things people wanted the police to know about, but not know who was doing the dumping.

And it was the perfect place for Gavin to work out his plan.

Halfway down the alleyway behind a large dumpster, Gavin crouched with his back to the wall, hood up and hunched forward. The cracked, outdated phone that once belonged to Santiago was in his hands. He read the outgoing text message on the screen once more.

_Meet me at the back alleyway outside the precinct if you don’t want Folwer to know what I know_

Vague enough so Munro didn’t know the sender, detailed enough to know the sender knew what was up.

He closed the phone, shoved it into his back pocket, and waited.

He didn’t have to wait long. The emergency exit to his left suddenly opened, and out walked Munro, his phone in his hand.

Gavin noticed with annoyance and displeasure that Munro also had his gun out.

What a goddamn rookie.

Munro didn’t see Gavin, he was facing down the empty side of the alleyway towards the back, so he was easy prey when Gavin quietly snuck up behind him, grabbed him with one hand by the arm that was holding the gun, and the other by the back of his head, and then pushed him up against the wall.

“Who the hell are you?” Munro yelled and tried to turn around.

Gavin didn’t answer. He pulled Munro’s head back, and then forcefully smacked it against the wall. Just once was all he needed before Munro slumped sideways and onto a pile of trash bags beside his feet, out cold.

Gavin grabbed the gun out of Munro’s slackened hand before he fell, and quickly put the safety back on before he tucked it into the back of his jeans. He then bent forward and picked up Munro’s phone. It was open to the message Gavin had sent. Quickly, Gavin deleted the message and then changed the settings so that he could unlock it again in the future if he needed.

He looked down at Munro, then crouched down and turned him over so he was facing upwards. His forehead was bruised and the skin slightly cracked, a trickle of blood running down the side of his face, but he was alive, not that it surprised Gavin. He hadn’t been trying to kill the man, though Gavin had a feeling if he was right about his suspicious, by the end of the day he might wish he had.

Placing the phone in his jacket’s pocket, Gavin ran his hands down Munro’s body, feeling his pockets. Except for his wallet, they were all empty.

Gavin stood up and flipped open Munro’s well-worn black billfold, checking its contents. Everything he expected to find was there: license, credit cards, a gym membership-

Bingo. Gavin pulled out a key card that was plain white on the front, but on the back was a black strip and a logo he didn’t recognize: a rising sun with squares in front of it. He pulled out his phone and took a picture to do a reverse image search. After a few moments, he was able to find out what it belonged to.

Sunrise Storage Units.

“The fuck you got going on there, asshole?” Gavin asked the unconscious Munro.

He threw the wallet onto Munro’s chest, then turned and walked out of the alleyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Chapter 3 is pretty much done and I am working on chapter 4. I hope you enjoy!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning*: Please be aware that this chapter does contain the following descriptions: blood, torture (mentioned), missing limbs, violence, gunshots, and gunfights. 
> 
> Thank you

* * *

It only took one short ring before Nines answered.

“Gavin,” Nines’ voice was full of worry. “Is everything alright?”

“Hello to you too,” Gavin said. He sat in his car, engine idling. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and looked out at the storage facility in front of him. It was located just outside Detroit in a suburban area he was only slightly familiar with. “Everything’s fine.”

“Sorry,” Nines said. “I wasn’t expecting to hear from you.”

“S’okay. How’d the lead go?”

“Not as well as we had hoped,” Nines answered ruefully. “He had a solid alibi, and honestly there isn’t much to indicate we should continue to follow this lead.” Nines paused and Gavin could hear Hank’s voice grunting in the background.

Gavin pinched the bridge of his nose. That was what he was afraid of.

When Nines spoke again, Gavin could also hear the exhaustion in his voice. “We should be back at the precinct in about a half hour.”

“Yeah,” Gavin began slowly. “That’s why I’m calling. I won’t be there when you get back.”

“Why not?”

“I’m…following up on a lead,” Gavin said. He picked up the white key card on the passenger seat and twisted it between his fingers. Ten minutes ago he had shown a photo on his phone of Munro to the owner of the storage unit facility, and the man had not only recognized Munro, but revealed that the facility’s records confirmed Munro had been there the previous night.

“A lead about Connor? Where?”

Gavin pressed his lips together tightly before he spoke. His gut wrenched at how excited Nines sounded. “Look, don’t get your hopes up. It could just be nothing-”

“Gavin,” Nines said warningly. He was not a fan of Gavin’s infuriating lone hero gambit he took on occasionally. “It doesn’t matter. I’ve already pinged your location.”

Gavin had planned on Nines doing just that. It was why he had called him instead of formally informing dispatch. He’d be an idiot to walk into a situation without anyone knowing where he was.

“Gavin our ETA is thirty-four minutes,” Nines paused. “Why are you at a storage facility?”

But he was still an idiot because he was going to walk into that situation alone.

“I’ll let you know if I find Connor,” Gavin said. “Nines, I-I-” he tried, then he swore and hung up the phone.

Words on the tip of his tongue hung uselessly unsaid. If only Hank hadn’t been there, and even Gavin could admit that he was a damn coward for letting that stop him.

His phone buzzed again, it was Nines of course, but Gavin let it ring as he exited his car. He walked down the path towards the name and number of the storage unit the owner had given him, the one belonging to Munro.

Rows of matching tall and white outdoor storage units flanked him from both sides. The only other occupants seemed to be two oblivious men heading in the opposite direction as Gavin continued his search. 

Almost ten minutes and two missed turns later Gavin finally found the numbers and letters that matched the unit belonging to Munro. He unholstered his standard issue Smith and Wesson and held it low by his side. He fished out the key card from his jacket pocket and walked over to the datapad where he needed to swipe the white key card.

The storage container had two doors, one was nearly the size of the unit itself with a handle at the bottom where Gavin could lift it up if the owner needed to store large items. The second was a smaller, regular sized door, and that is the one Gavin choose to enter from.

He listened first for any voices or strange noises. But, when he only heard silence, he made his move.

“Connor if you’re not in here I’m going to kick your chassis up a damn wall,” Gavin muttered, then swiped the key card.

The keypad’s light blinked green, and Gavin grabbed the handle to open the door. Slowly, he turned the knob and stepped inside.

Darkness. The thin ray of light from the doorway only illuminated some boxes located at the far end of the unit, but Gavin could see nothing. Hear nothing.

“This is detective Gavin Reed of the Detroit Police Department,” Gavin called out, though he didn’t expect an answer. His gun was drawn towards the darkness, though he had no target in sight.

“If any holier-than-thou, pain in the ass RK800’s are in the vicinity, now’s the time to make that known in the least annoying way possible.” 

Still silence.

Gavin swore, then reached out to touch the wall to his side. His hands fumbled for a few moments, then he finally found the light switch. He flicked it upwards, and watched as the overhead lights struggled to flicker on.

“Oh shit. _No_.” Gavin whispered when the darkness finally faded. His hands went weak, and it was only years of training that kept him from his knees falling as heavily as his stomach at what he saw.

He had found Connor.

And a part of him wished he hadn’t gone looking in the first place.

“Connor,” Gavin breathed out when the shock faded just enough that he could pull himself together.

The android was hanging from the ceiling, by his hands tied together by a chain hooked to the ceiling. Thirium dripped blue rivulets along his naked white chassis, a small pool forming below Connor’s feet.

Or foot, as one of his legs had been taken off at the knee. Gavin could see cords hanging from the open wound, the empty space a yawning, unnatural looking wound. 

But the worst was Connor’s face. Open eyes unseeing, synthskin torn into ragged shreds against his exposed jaw, revealing more wires and dripping blue blood. From this angle, he almost looked like Nines, and that thought made Gavin retch for a moment.

“What the fuck did he do to you?” Gavin whispered harshly when he could focus again.

Connor’s thirium pump regulator was sticking out of his chest, but Gavin could see the thirium pump pulsing with blue liquid. A good sign he might still be alive. 

He pulled out his phone with one hand as he re-holstered his gun with the other. He texted Nines letting him know he found Connor, then dialed dispatch and walked around the storage unit, looking for a ladder or step-stool.

The place looked like an underground survivalist’s bunker. A blowup mattress was blanketed with an unmade sleeping bag and one single pillow. To the side was as a shelving unit full of boxes and machinery, and beside that a workman’s bench, littered with various tools, datapads, and objects used for tech maintenance. 

“Good morning! You have reached the main dispatch line-”

“This is Detective Gavin Reed,” Gavin quickly cutoff the ST500. “I have a 10-999 at the Sunrise Storage facility located outside Detroit. I need immediate assistance.”

“Sending units now,” the android said.

Gavin found a small ladder under the workbench and dragged it over to Connor. As he began to climb he continued, “We need an immediate APB out on Officer James Munro of the Detroit Police Department. He is a high-priority suspect involved in detective RK800’s kidnapping and assault. Considered him a high-level threat.”

When Gavin reached the top step he looked over Connor’s damage. He knew next to nothing about how android anatomy worked, but it was obvious that the thirium pump regulator sticking out of Connor’s chest was not a promising sign. “The injured officer is an RK800, known as Detective Connor. Are you familiar with his model?”

“Superficially,” ST-500 answered. “I can access any information is available on public records if that might assist you, Detective Reed.”

“Better than nothing,” Gavin conceded. “I need to know how you reassemble a thirium pump regulator when it’s been yanked out of the chest.”

“Detective,” ST500 said, “I would strongly recommend you wait for trained professionals for assist RK800 in reassembly. Android biocomponents are highly sensitive-”

“Look,” Gavin said, quickly cutting ST500 off. “I know next to nothing about this shit, but if there’s a chance he’s still alive I’ve got to try. He’s leaking blue-blood everywhere and I can’t help him when he’s just a sack of lead.”

“Alright Detective. Place your hand on the base of the thirium pump regulator. Twist it counter-clockwise until you hear click, then slowly push it back into the chest cavity.”

Placing his hand on the pump, Gavin muttered, “Easy as pie,” and continued to follow the android’s directions. Within moments, the pump was back inside the chassis. Gavin pulled his hand back and listened to Connor’s body come back to life. Clicks and whirs echoed in the room before Connor’s head jerked upwards, his mouth falling open as if to take a breath. 

“Hank,” Connor gasped when his eyes flashed with life, and fear. They began to dart in all directions, and Gavin could see his LED spin bright red. “Hank!” He cried again.

“Holy shit it worked,” Gavin said. He hung up his phone and shoved it in his pocket, then reached out and placed both hands on Connor’s face and turned it so that they were facing each other. “Hey! Hey there Robocop, take it easy. You’re safe. You’re okay.”

Connor blinked away some thirium that had dripped in his eyes from one of his head wounds. “Detective Reed? What-?” He shook his head. “Officer James Munro. He’s the one-”

“Yeah, yeah. Old news,” Gavin said. “I need to get you down,”

“Does Hank know where I am?” Connor asked eagerly, his voice edging into panic. “Where is he? Is he safe? Is he-”

“On his way,” Gavin said. “He was checking out a lead on the other side of town. But, I beat him to the punch.” Gavin breathed out a sigh before sarcastically adding, “Lucky us.”

He began to reach up to work at Connor’s bound hands, but Connor yelled out, “Wait!”

“What?” Gain said after he paused.

“There is some kind of electrical current running through the wires attached the chain.”

Gavin took a closer look at the chains and now saw the rows of exposed wires wrapped around the chains vines.

“The current’s strength has blocked my sensors and is weakening me, but if you were to touch it, it could be much more dangerous.” He nodded towards a workbench at the far end of the unit. “The controls are over there.”

Gavin jumped down from the ladder and walked over. He picked up a tablet and turned to Connor. “This?”

Connor nodded. “However, I am not sure how to turn that option off.”

Gavin looked down at the tablet and turned it on. “Okay, well, want me to just keep pressing buttons till something happens?”

Connor was already shaking his head before Gavin finished speaking. “I would ask that you please refrain from utilizing that course of action, detective. The other options available on that tablet can induce very painful electric shocks.”

Gavin felt a sharp chill surge up his back. “Did that motherfucker torture you?” He practically growled out the question.

Connor nodded. “He is convinced he can reprogram androids to subvert back to their non-deviancy status, and has used me as a sample to test his hypothesis.”

“The fuck now?” Gavin said. His hands had begun to shake with a mix of rage and nausea with every word. It was bad enough that Connor had gone through this, but that Munro was originally gunning for Nines for this?

He swore to himself that would make sure Munro never laid eyes on Nines again. If he somehow avoided jail, Gavin would tear the man’s eyes out himself.

Connor continued to speak. “During or time together, Officer Munro explained that deviant androids are abominations, and has tasked himself with the charge of finding a way to re-circumvent our deviant programming. He believes androids were deigned to be subservient, and should stay that way.”

“That mother-,” Gavin began, then pressed his lips together and scrubbed a rough hand through his curls to desperately tamper down the rage surging through his chest. He slammed a fist down on top of the workshop, rattling the miscellaneous items scattered across the desk.

“Detective Reed?” Connor asked when Gavin didn’t speak for a few moments.

“Fine. Fine. We’ll figure out semantics later. Just give me a minute to figure out how to turn off the damn thing.” Gavin picked up the tablet and looked at it, trying to focus.

“There could be some kind of code, or software interface. It seems like Munro designed the software himself.”

“You mean like an off button?” Gavin said, holding up the tablet and pressing a red circle with an X in the middle. The lights in the room flickered, then began shinning brighter, and the low humming sound in the distance turned off.

“Yes, I believe that worked,” Connor said, unable to keep the surprise out of his voice.

Gavin looked around the workbench, then began gathering the supplies he needed. He dragged a small crate over to Connor, turned it upside down, and placed it beneath his good leg. He climbed back up the ladder, took out the bolt cutters and began working on the chains wrapped around Connor’s wrists.

“You feeling okay?” Gavin asked when he paused to wipe some sweat away from his forehead. His eyes had caught Connor’s LED flickering between yellow and red.

“I am fine, Detective,” Connor said, but Gavin could hear the stress in his voice. “You have said you contacted Hank, correct?”

“Well Nines, and Nines is with him-”

“He should be here soon,” Connor quickly continued, cutting Gavin off. “My coms are down from the trauma to my CPU, so I can’t let him know that I am alright. But, you said that you told him that I am alright. So, I am sure that he must have been worried-”

“Okay alright. Chill man, you need to relax,” Gavin said, and wrapped his hand comfortingly around Connor’s bicep to stop his rambling. “I’d tell you to take a breath but I know that’s useless. So just do whatever the fuck you do to calm down.”

“Relaxing is not something I can properly accomplish at this point,” Connor said tightly. “My CPU is malfunctioning and I am having difficulty managing my HUD.”

Gavin pulled the bolt cutters back and began working again.

“Fine. Let’s take your mind off of what’s happening before you blow a goddamn fuse. I don’t think I can handle resetting your breakers twice.”

Connor opened his mouth to correct Gavin, but was cut off before he could speak. “I know what I said, Robocop. How about this? You said you and Hank are a thing right? Tell me about that. How the hell did you and that old surly sack end up as whatever the hell you are?”

Connor looked at Gavin. “I am surprised you are interested.”

“I’m not,” Gavin grunted as he got through another chain. “But tell me anyway.”

Connor looked towards the floor before he spoke. “After the android revolution, Hank had allowed me to live with him. It was initially supposed to be a temporary arraignment, but, during that time we became…close. I had never thought that our relationship would progress to such an intimate state, and I was fine with that. But, then Hank was injured in one of our cases, and when I was suddenly faced with the possibility of losing him I began to realize how much I had grown to care about him and the life we had together.”

Connor paused and looked back at Gavin. “It is petrifying to have something to love, to have so much to lose. But I don’t think I could ever trade what I have now to go back to the way I was before, even if it would keep me safe.” Connor’s eyes searched Gavin’s. “Does that make sense?”

Gavin scoffed. “Course. It makes you sound human.”

Connor searched Gavin’s eyes, though they were still focused on the task at hand, and smiled.

A few more minutes passed in silence before Gavin finished working on the chain and gently helped Connor so that his foot could rest against the upturned crate, then quickly cut the next series of bolts.

“Here, hold onto me,” Gavin said when he was finished and Connor had wrapped his arms around Gavin’s shoulders. Slowly they made their way to the concrete floor, and Gavin gently lowered Connor down so that he could rest against a pile of upturned crates.

Gavin was panting from exhaustion from carrying the android, but he could tell Connor was uncomfortable as well. His LED was flickering between yellow and red again, and more thirium had leaked out and splattered on the floor. His eyes would focus on something, remain still, and then quickly dart somewhere else.

Gavin stood and walked over to the air mattress at the far end of the room. He tugged a sheet off the top and dragged it back towards Connor.

“Sit forward,” Gavin commanded and when Connor complied, he draped the sheet around his shoulders and over his body.

“While I appreciate the gesture, detective,” Connor said, “It is ultimately unnecessary. I do not feel cold.”

Gavin continued shifting the sheet over his body. “You might not feel cold, but I don’t think you’re going to love having a shit ton of cops and EMTs seeing you all sorts of naked once they get here.”

Connor tilted his head to the side, then he tugged the sheet tightly against his chest. “I see your point.”

“Speaking of backup, they should be here soon,” Gavin said, and took a quick look at his watch.

“They might be here now,” Connor said. “I can hear someone at the door.” He nodded his head towards the door Gavin had entered from. “I do not think it’s Hank, though. The footsteps do not match.”

Gavin’s pulse quickened. “You hear someone coming?” He said, dropping his voice low. “But before that, did you hear any sirens? Any coms or chatter?

Connor turned back to Gavin. “No.”

The sound of a series of gunshots going off echoed throughout the storage unit. Gavin had a moment to see the door’s handle be blown off before he pushed himself onto Connor, dragging him towards a small pile of boxes for cover.

Gavin swore once before taking out his gun and phone. He handed the phone to Connor and said, “Call dispatch and let them know we’re under fire.”

“Is it Munro?” Connor asked.

His question was answered when the door was kicked in and Gavin, peeking behind the corner of the box, saw Munro walk into the unit, his gun drawn and his eyes glancing around the room, desperately searching for them.

Gavin turned to Connor, then placed his finger against his lips for the android to keep silent. Connor nodded, his LED red with worry.

“I know you’re still here, Detective,” Munro called out. “I saw your car in the parking lot. And you’re not going to get far with a lame android holding you down.”

Gavin squinted his eyes shut and swore loudly in his head. He had begun to wonder where Munro had gotten a gun, then realized he must have stolen it back from where Gavin kept it stashed in the glove compartment of his car.

Gavin looked around the space surrounding himself and Connor, and his eyes rested on a large shelving until full of machinery.

Knowing he had mere seconds, Gavin listened as Munro’s footsteps came closer to where he and Connor were hiding. Sucking a deep breath, Gavin launched himself upwards and shoved the shelving unit down and onto Munro.

Munro yelled and began firing widely as hard items fell onto him, but failed to knock him down completely.

Gavin skidded around the shelving unit until he was on the same side as Munro. He pointed his gun out and yelled, “Put your gun down you fucker!”

Gavin had barely finished speaking when Munro launched at him, wrapping his arms around Gavin’s waist and throwing him onto the hard concrete floor. Gavin felt his head bounce as it connected, pain ricocheting down his neck and back.

He heard Connor yell his name, but he was more concerned with where his gun had skidded off to and his sudden double vision from his head injury.

“You’ve ruined everything!” Munro screamed as he sat up and then quickly delivered a punch to Gavin’s face.

Gavin coughed as he felt blood pour down his throat from where his teeth had cut into his cheek. Before he could recover from the initial strike, Munro delivered two more teeth rattling blows across Gavin’s face, making his head ache and spin even more.

As Munro reared his fist back to continue his assault, Gavin took that brief pause to get in his own shot. His closed fist flew upwards to jab forcefully into the middle of Munro’s throat, causing the man to use both hands to wrap around his airway as it closed, gasping for air.

Gavin then delivered a second jab to his gut, causing Munro to buckle over. Gavin grabbed Munro by his jacket and heaved him off his body, rolling sideways as soon as the weight was off his chest.

Blinking against the continued double-vision, Gavin saw his gun a few inches away. Crawling towards it, he grabbed the weapon and scrambled to stand, pointing his gun at Munro who was moaning on the floor. Gavin wanted to close in on him, but didn’t know where Munro’s gun was.

“Hands up!” Gavin yelled, and felt some blood pour down his chin.

Munro placed his hands on the floor and pushed himself up, swaying in pain.

“I said hands up!” Gavin yelled again. 

“I could have done it,” Munro muttered. “I could have fixed everything,” he continued.

Gavin spit out some more blood and said, “Only thing you’ve fixed is a one-way ticket to jail you piece of shit.”

Munro’s face crumbled and he let out a sudden, loud yell before he stepped forward to lunge at Gavin.

Without hesitating, Gavin lowered his gun a few inches and fired two shots, one into each of Munro’s legs. He held his gun in place as he watched Munro crumble to the floor, screaming and writhing in agony.

“Said hand’s up,” Gavin muttered as he tucked his gun into the back of his jeans. He quickly walked over to Munro and grabbed both of his hands behind his back, cuffing him with a zip-tie he had in his jacket just in case.

When Munro was incapacitated, Gavin walked back over to Connor.

“Detective! Are you alright?” Conner exclaimed. His eyes roamed over Gavin’s body as he knelt down to examine him.

“Fine,” Gavin said even as his body ached heavily in disagreement. “You okay? Nothing hit you when he was firing?” Gavin pulled the sheet aside to inspect Connor’s chassis.

“I am unharmed,” Connor said. “I am sorry that you had to face him alone. I hated that I could not assist you in that fight.”

“I’ve been through worse,” Gavin panted and wiped some blood away from his chin. “It’s okay.”

Connor opened his mouth to comment on Gavin’s nonchalant reply when a panicked voice suddenly called out “Gavin?”

“Oh thank God,” Gavin whispered as he turned to stand, wobbling slightly from the movement, a sharp burning making itself known on his side. He watched as Nines barreled into the storage unit, gun at the ready, his eyes wide with fear and worry.

“Don’t worry,” Gavin said when his eyes met Nines, “Nobody’s dead.”

“Gavin,” Nines breathed out his name, his shoulders sagging in welcome relief. He kept his gun on Munro who was still moaning on his side, but kept his eyes on Gavin. “Your face, you’re hurt. He _hurt_ you.”

Before Gavin could respond, Hank rushed into the unit, his gun drawn as well.

“Connor!” Hank half growled, half shouted. He rushed passed Nines and practically threw himself down next to Connor, inspecting him.

“Gavin,” Nines said suddenly, alarm evident in his voice. Gavin turned and realized Nines was suddenly by his side, pulling back his jacket. “Your side. Gavin, you’re-you-” He began pushing Gavin to sit down.

Gavin looked down to where Nines was looking at his body. “What?” He pulled his jacket back, and saw a large bloodstain spreading across his left side, an inch above his stomach.

He turned and looked at Nines whose eyes had grown wide with horror.

“Oh,” Gavin said and allowed Nines to finish pushing him to sit down. He placed his hand on top of the wound, feeling the adrenaline seep from his body and be replaced with burning pain. “Missed that.”

Nines placing his own hands over Gavin’s, pushing down hard against the blood flow. Gavin hissed, but didn’t push Nines away. They both knew he needed the pressure. 

“Gavin, Emergency services are on their way. Please lay back and don’t move. Do you feel any pain-”

“Hey,” Gavin whispered and placed his blood stained hand over Nines. He could hear the rising panic in Nines’ voice. “It’s okay. I’m going to be okay.” 

“Stop talking,” Nines snapped. “You need to save your strength.” He paused for a moment and Gavin watched his LED burn a bright red. “You are so reckless Gavin! Why couldn’t you have waited for us? And how did you not know you were shot?”

“Guess I’m a little oblivious sometimes,” Gavin said. He was so focused on Nines, he almost missed Hank walking towards Munro, his face murderous.

Almost.

“Nines,” Gavin gasped. “Nines, you need to stop him.”

Hank already had his gun out, pointing towards Munro, and was growling, “You sonofabitch! What did you do to him?”

Nines turned to Hank. “Lieutenant Anderson!” Nines’ voice dripped with anger and venom. “I will only warn you once that I am not going to risk leaving Gavin to stop you, so if you pull that trigger and murder Officer Munro, just know that you will lose Connor all over again. And this time you will not get him back.”

Hank stopped where he was, but didn’t put the gun down. His hair was as wild as his eyes, desperate to avenge what had been done to Connor.

“Hank,” Connor called out desperately. “Please.”

Beats of tense moments passed slowly before Hank finally put the safety back on his gun before lowering it. “This isn’t over,” he promised, then turned and walked back to Connor. He knelt down and pulled him to his chest and wrapped his arm around the back of his head to tuck him in close to his neck, and began whispering in his ear.

Gavin turned back to Nines and let out a deep sigh. “Thanks,” he mumbled, then winced in pain when Nines pressed down harder.

“Don’t thank me,” Nines said. “Just stay conscious. I can hear the emergency services coming. They will be here soon.”

“M’trying to stay awake,” Gavin muttered angrily. “What the hell do you think I’m trying to do? Knit you a damn sweater?”

“Do that. Talk. Argue. Say something. Anything.” More blood seep out between Nines’ steady fingers. He forced his voice to remain even as he spoke. “You ramble about useless nonsense more than anyone else I know, so don’t stop that now.”

“Okay,” Gavin whispered and licked his lips. “How about this?” He waited until Nines was looking at him. “Move in with me.”

Nines’ eyes shifted in surprise, his LED swirling a yellow as bright as the morning sun. He was so shocked he almost forgot to keep his hands in place. “What did you say?”

“You heard me,” Gavin said and coughed loudly, painfully. “With those billion dollar ears of yours. Move in with me.”

Nines looked Gavin over, hesitation and fear evident in his eyes. “What-? We-we can talk about this later when you are better-”

“No,” Gavin said, and placed his hand over Nines’. “I should have asked you ages ago. So I’m asking you now.”

Disbelieving what he was hearing, Nines shook his head and let out a soft laugh. “Gavin.”

“Hey, I’ve been told on good authority that androids are excellent living partners.” He smirked, glancing briefly at Connor before turning back to Nines. “What do you say? Wanna be my living partner?”

Pain suddenly laced through his side, and when he went to wince, his head ached ferociously, causing him to groan loudly and his body attempt to curl in on itself.

“Gavin? Gavin!” Nines’ voice tried to break through the painful barriers, but each word was like another nail jack hammering into his skull.

“I, Nines I can’t,” Gavin tried.

* * *

He attempted to open his eyes but his vision blurred over once more, and before he could stop it, darkness overtook him with Nines’ voice fading as he called his name.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Comments and Kudos are always appreciated!
> 
> Please check out my tumblr below and follow me if you would like! I post there whenever I have a new chapter up.
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> <https://www.tumblr.com/blog/wordscavenger>
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> Also if you are interested in more Gavin/Reed fics please checkout my entries for the DEArtfest!
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> [Detroit Evolution July Artfest](https://archiveofourown.org/series/1812310)


	4. Chapter 4

For most of his life, Gavin hadn’t ever been much a dreamer. Normally now, when he slept, darkness held him tight until morning, leaving him groggy but functional.

But before Nines came into his life, into his bed, he had avoided sleep as much as possible. If not full blown nightmares, glimpses of the violent, dark corners of his life had always crept into his unconscious mind, torturing him with gratuitous reminders of the pain and misery he had seen, and had suffered through, for hours every night.

And here he was again, on a cement floor, his body frozen from the icy air and the mounds of snow littered on the ground around him. Blood, _his_ blood, black as the night sky were splattered in droplets and small pools. The large warehouse held in his echoes of painful cries, and the only witnesses to his misery were the unsympathetic scavenging pigeons watching above, waiting patiently for the assault to end so they could go back to sleep.

Gavin’s nightmare of being jumped out was in full replay, the worst of all of all his memories. The men, faceless forms he once knew so well, kicked and screamed at him nonsense words he couldn’t understand. Not that it mattered, all he knew was pain. Searing, unrelenting agony that would damage his body and mind for the rest of his life.

Then, just as quickly as the nightmare had started, it stopped. Silence, somehow louder than the din of angry men above him, left Gavin cold and petrified. From behind bloodied hands, he looked up, and saw a face. And a gun.

One name entered his mind, before a loud blast replaced his hollow echoes, and the world went black.

* * *

He woke like he had been electrocuted. His heart jack-hammering in his chest and his body tingling with the sudden absence of bone-crushing pain. His mind was desperately trying to catch up to its new surroundings, replacing extreme danger with _safe, you’re safe_.

He was in a hospital room. A _nice_ hospital room. Nicer than his apartment even. A single unit, but with wide enough spacing that held a private bathroom and nearly floor to ceiling windows looking out onto an envious view of Detroit’s skyline displaying the city in an elegant nighttime panorama. The walls, floor, ceiling, and medical equipment were so white he could see the room’s low light’s reflection on every surface.

He was alone, besides the large screen TV hanging from the wall across from him displaying the news. According to the byline, the reporter he recognized was apparently detailing a story about the president’s upcoming visit to the city, but it was all on mute.

Now knowing where he was, he came back to his situation, to the memories of how he got there. He tried to take in slow breaths to calm his beating heart. Munroe was caught. Connor was safe. And he was, well, damaged but alive, apparently. He tried shifting in his uncomfortable hospital bed but wasn’t able to move much. His body felt heavy and his mind was groggy from the heavy medication and his concussion, and his body felt like he’d been run over by a tractor truck at full speed. And the breathing was still difficult. He tried swallowing and realized his throat felt weird-

Slowly, Gavin reached up and felt plastic across his face. With gut-punching fear he realized that he had been intubated. Which meant he most likely had surgery for the bullet wound. 

Panic rose in his chest like a tidal wave. Suddenly, his mind sounded fierce, unrelenting warnings that he needed to get out. Out of his room, out of this hospital and away from machines and bad memories and _pain_.

Even with the machine pushing air into his throat, he felt like he couldn’t breathe even more than before. His vision went blurry, and his blood pounded in his ears. His body with alight with an energetic buzz that if he didn’t get this tube out of him this instant he would just die.

Clawing at the tube to get it off of him, he had his hands wrapped around the plastic to begin to yank it out when he suddenly felt two other hands grasped his own, holding him still.

Desperately trying to suck in air, Gavin looked up defiantly to fight back for control and-

Nines.

“Gavin,” Nines said, his voice soft and soothing, washing over Gavin’s panic like a balm, despite the raw emotion Gavin could hear over every syllable. His face was unreadable, but Gavin could see the relief reflected in his eyes.

Still in that calm voice, Nines gently shushed him before he spoke again. “Please, Gavin, leave this alone. I understand if the apparatus is uncomfortable, but the doctor will be in momentarily, and she will take it out for you.”

Gavin’s whole body trembled when Nines spoke, and all he could offer him was a weak nod as the previously rising panic slowly ebbed back like the tides, and he lowered his hands. When Nines slowly let go of his hands, Gavin felt like his entire foundation might crumble, but with Nines now there he could feel his body slowly relax, and the air somehow became not so thin and unattainable anymore.

Nines didn’t leave him for long. He walked over to a small chair that had been pushed aside to bring it closer to the bed, and when he sat he took Gavin’s hands back in his again. Gavin almost wept when he saw them turn white against his pale skin, something he loved watching, and he held them together tightly.

Nines gave Gavin a sad but pleased smile, and tightened his hold as well. “I am sorry I wasn’t here when you woke up. I was just seeing Tina to her car. She will be disappointed to have missed you,” he spoke again in a quiet, gentle voice that Gavin loved. He had never told Nines how much he loved his voice, and now when he desperately wanted to, he couldn’t.

Gavin knew Nines was holding back, being calm and polite when he knew Nines probably wanted to list out every mistake that Gavin made that led him here.

Gavin knew the list was long.

Instead, Nines continued. “You’ve been asleep for almost a week. Your injuries were severe, but you are stable for now.” His smile faltered a bit, and Gavin could tell that Nines wanted to say something more, but he continued to hold himself back.

Frustrated at still being silenced, Gavin forcefully held back from attempting to pull out the tube again. He had so many questions and didn’t know how to ask them. What happened to Munroe? Was Connor okay?

Did Nines want to move in with him?

Instead, Gavin stewed away in his silent thoughts, and refocused his attention to look over Nines. Even though Nines couldn’t feel things like exhaustion, Gavin had known the android long enough that he could read the outline of stress and anxiety in his body language, and the way his LED would flicker between its color combinations. His hair was slightly mussed up, and his clothes looked wrinkled, like he had spent stasis in them for too long.

To anyone else, this would just be a normal way one would look after a long day, but for the impeccable android, Nines’ looked like he’d been through the ringer and came out the other end utterly defeated.

Not knowing how else to communicate with Nines, he squeezed his hand again, trying to get the android to refocus. Nines attempted another weak smile, squeezing back.

He opened his mouth to speak, but then the door to the room opened and a doctor walked in.

The next twenty minutes were a blur. The female doctor, middle aged, experienced and friendly enough, quickly and efficiently went over her tests to make sure Gavin could breathe on his own, before beginning the procedure to remove the tube.

Gavin kept his eyes on Nines who was standing at the end of the bed, safely out of the doctor’s way. Gavin wasn’t sure when Nines had wrapped his hands along the metal foot-rest at the end of the bed, but he could see Nines tensely watching the doctor’s every movement, his mouth a thin, tense line and his grip on the metal bar tight. He looked miserably helpless to alleviate any of Gavin’s pain.

When the doctor began to remove the tube, Gavin was worried Nines’ would rip the bar in half as he watched Gavin struggle. But he didn’t, he stayed silent as Gavin coughed and groaned when he was freed, and when the doctor stepped back, Nines was instantly by his side, running trembling hands along his back and arms to soothe him.

“Make sure he drinks plenty of fluids,” the doctor spoke as she tapped away at her datapad. “I’ll be back in an hour to check on his progress.” She nodded at them, then left the room.

Nines helped Gavin lean back against his pillows after he shakily took some sips of water, and when Gavin’s breathing slowed to a more steady rhythm, Nines tentatively asked, “How do you feel?”

For a moment Gavin almost wanted to make a bad joke, something to alleviate the mood, but he didn’t have the strength, or the interest. Instead, Gavin looked up at Nines and said in a horse, damaged voice, “You never answered my question.”

Nines’ LED flashed a bright yellow before settling. He looked over Gavin’s face, confused for a moment, then laughed a soft, disbelieving scoff. “I didn’t think you would remember asking me that question.” He looked nervous, and suddenly didn’t seem to know where to put his hands. “You were hurt, and bleeding heavily. I had asked you to continue to speak to distract yourself and to keep you awake-”

“Nines,” Gavin said, and reached out to grab his hand. He had to swallow a few times before he spoke again. “I won’t pressure you. If you don’t want to-”

“I do!” Nines eagerly cut him off, and stepped almost impossibly closer to the bed. Lowering his voice, he repeated, “I do want to live with you. I would love to. But, are you sure that you want to? Connor confessed that he had spoken with you on the topic before his…incident. And, I appreciate the offer, but I know how much you value your space and privacy away from work. I want to be sure that the offer was sincere, and not because Connor might have inadvertently pressured you into making it.”

God, Gavin loved Nines. With what little strength he had, Gavin brought their joined hands to his cheek, pressing Nines’ retracted synthskin to his own flesh. He had been so scared, so damn afraid when he was lying on the cold cement of that miserable storage unit that he had lost his future with Nines. But here he was, alive and given yet another chance to spend his life with the person he loved.

Sliding their joined hands to his lips, Gavin grazed a small kiss against the back of Nines’ hand before he looked up and smiled at Nines. His throat felt like it was on fire, so he forced himself to speak slowly, haltingly, as he said, “I don’t know the first fucking thing about how to make one, so I think we should look for an apartment near a garden. I know how much you love those.”

Nines’ eyes darted across every inch of Gavin’s face, searching desperately for any hint that he was hesitant or being facetious, but when his sensors only found sincerity and hope in Gavin’s words, in his expression, then Nines’ breathed out Gavin’s name in a shaky sigh before he leaned forward. His free hand slid up into Gavin’s hair, and Nines couldn’t stop himself from pressing his lips against Gavin’s, kissing him with a desperation he had been holding back since Gavin first awoke. Gavin kissed back, his lips trembling as emotion overwhelmed him.

“I’m sorry,” Gavin ground out, the words gruff and barely audible, when Nines pulled back to let him breathe. “I’m so sorry.”

“Why did you do this?” Nines whispered, unable to hold back his burning questions any longer. Now that Gavin could answer them. Fear and anger were mixed with such immense relief he couldn’t hold himself to stand any longer. He knelt on the floor, but he was tall enough that from his knees he could still hold onto Gavin, still look him in the eye. “Why did you go in alone? You could have been killed Gavin! How could you do something so reckless?”

Nines’ voice and expressions ran through a wide range of mixed emotions: rage that Gavin had risked his life so carelessly, and relief that he had survived the ordeal. Happiness that Gavin wanted them to live together, and trepidation at the huge step in their relationship. 

Licking his lips, Gavin grasped onto Nines just as tightly, and answered, “Because I’m a fucking idiot remember?” Gavin said, and tried for a smile, but he couldn’t. Instead he said, “I did it for you.”

Nines’ jerked back like he had been slapped. He snapped, “What? How could you possibly think that going into a dangerous situation alone, without backup, without _me_ , is in any way something that I would want for you?”

“Nines,” Gavin tried again, but his partner shook his head.

“You must be the most foolish man alive to think you have any excuse for risking yourself like that. How can you say that you did this for me?”

Shaking his own head as well, Gavin took a deep breath before he spoke. “You may have a database the size of every search engine combined in your head, Nines, but that doesn’t mean you know everything.” He quickly continued on before Nines could interrupt him again. “Look. I didn’t know when I was looking for Connor if I was going to find him alive, okay? I’m glad he was when I did, but Nines…he was almost gone when I got there. And, fuck, you probably know enough now about what he went through. And If I didn’t get to him when I did I-”

Gavin lost his voice. He coughed a few times, and then raggedly continued. “Just-you’ve seen death on the job before, I know. But not like this. Not when it’s someone you care about.”

Nines’ mouth, already open for a retort, slowly closed.

“You’ve never lost anyone, Nines,” Gavin said, his voice dropping just above a whisper. It was only because of Nines’ superior audio sensors that he could continue to hear Gavin’s words. “I know Connor means something to you. He’s your friend, and a good one, even if he’s a pain in my ass.”

Nines couldn’t help but smile softly at Gavin’s typical dig at his friend. It use to bother him that Connor and Gavin couldn’t seem to get along, but now that he saw what lengths Gavin had gone to for Connor, and what Connor had told Nines about how Gavin helped him during the ordeal, Nines now knew Gavin didn’t hold as much malice towards the other android as he had once perceived. And it once again reinforced how much goodness Gavin hid behind his harsh words and raggedy exterior.

Gavin paused to catch his breath, then continued. “When you lose someone you care about, it changes you, sometimes in a really bad way. And you don’t always come back from that. And, I didn’t want you to see Connor like that, okay? If Connor didn’t make it, I didn’t want what I saw to be your last memory of him. I would have done anything to stop that, Nines. Anything to save you from that.”

Still silent, Nines’ narrowed his eyes, his LED spinning as he processed Gavin’s words.

Sighing, Gavin let his head fall back to the pillows, the exertion from speaking exhausting him, but he kept on. “I’ve been doing this job a long-ass time. And I’ve known a lot of good cops, good people, who got fucking wrecked by losing the people they loved. Jesus, just ask Connor how Hank was before he came onto the scene.” He gave a small shake of his head. “I can’t lose you, Nines. I won’t.”

Slowly, Nines reached up and ran a hand along Gavin’s face, his soft touch leaving a trail of affection down Gavin’s cheek. When he realized Gavin had nothing more to say, he spoke. “Fine. I…somewhat understand, Gavin, why you did what you had done. I don’t agree with it, and I still wish you hadn’t. But, if you died back there, you would have lost me, either way.” Nines’ shook his head. “I can’t lose you either, Gavin. If I move in with you, then promise me I won’t ever have to go back to our home without you there.”

Sadness reflected in Gavin’s eyes. “You know the job, Nines. You know I can’t promise that.”

Nodding, Nines said, “Then promise me you won’t ever do something like that again. Talk to me. Let me help you. Let me protect you back.” He squeezed Gavin’s hand entwined with his against his chest. “Please. I love you. Please.”

Gavin’s chest tightened and twisted the way it always did whenever Nines’ told him that he was loved, and as a betraying solitary tear fell from Gavin’s eye, he sniffed and whispered. “I’ll always try to protect you, Nines. I can’t change that. But, I promise not to keep things from you, or pull a Bruce Wills lone hero act.” He shifted and coughed out a groan as pain laced up his side. “Getting shot fucking sucks, dude.”

Nines finally humored Gavin with a small laugh at his poor attempt at a joke. He stood up and then sat on the side of the bed, then reached out to wipe away Gavin’s tear. “I am not surprised at all by that statement. Get some rest, Gavin. I will contact Tina and the others to let them know you are awake.”

“Connor’s okay?” Gavin asked, his words slurring. As soon as Nines had said the word rest, his body automatically reacted, ready to do just that.

Nines’ nodded. “He has received the care that he needed. Hank has barely left his side.” He lowered his eyes for a moment, then said, “Thank you for saving him.”

Gavin shrugged. “What are cop boyfriends for?”

“For listening to their cop partners and not getting hurt,” Nines retorted. “Sleep. I will be here when you wake up.”

“Better be,” Gavin said as his eyes closed. “We have apartment hunting plans to make.”

* * *

“If Nines sees you here, he’s going to drag you back to your place by the ear.”

Wincing, Gavin turned around in his desk chair to look at Tina standing beside his workstation at the police precinct. Her arms were crossed and her entire face was wrinkled up like a scowl.

“Who says he has to know? He’s examining evidence today. He’ll be in the locker room for hours,” Gavin retorted. “I’m just going to do a few things, then I’ll leave.” When Tina still didn’t reply, Gavin clenched his hands into fists and kept them placed firmly on the desk before he slowly, angrily, desperately pleaded, “Fine. _Please_ do not tell him I’m here. I’ve been on medical leave for three weeks. Nines’ barely leaves me alone to take a piss, and I’m going crazy at home. I’m so fucking bored.”

Tina lifted a foot and used it to nudge Gavin’s chair back a few inches, smirking when he winced again at the sudden movement. She stepped into the open space and then sat on his desk, her legs swinging a couple inches off the ground. “I won’t tell him.”

“Thanks,” Gavin grumbled, rubbing at his side.

“But,” Tina said, her smile wide. “I did let Connor know you were here.”

Immediately, Gavin began to struggle to his feet. “Are you fucking serious? You son of a-”

“Detective Reed,” a familiar voice suddenly exclaimed from behind him.

Groaning in defeat, Gavin ignored Tina’s cheerful greeting towards Connor and sagged back into his chair. He turned around to see the android standing in front of his desk, a mug for coffee in his hands.

“Connor,” Gavin said tiredly. “What’s up, man?”

“I am pleased to see your body has continued its healing process,” Connor said, his words blunt and his voice as cheerful as ever. There were barely any traces of the trauma Connor’s body had suffered through, though Nines’ had once cautiously hinted to Gavin that he was still working through some residual mental difficulties.

Gavin could relate. 

“I’m getting by,” Gavin answered with a shrug. He shifted, then nodded towards the mug. “That for Hank? It’s after two in the afternoon so make sure it’s decaf or he’ll never make it to his five o’clock bedtime. Where’s he at anyway? Early bird special somewhere?”

Connor smirked at Gavin, a knowing look in his eye. “No, detective,” he said, clearly amused. “And the coffee is for you. Nines’ shared with me how you prefer your coffee prepared, so when Detective Chen informed me that you were on the premises I took the opportunity to give it a try. I hope it’s to your liking.”

He held out the mug towards Gavin, who hesitantly took it in his hands.

“Wow, Gavin,” Tina commented. “You’ve got two androids making coffee for you now? Not a bad setup.”

Gavin turned to her and scowled. “Don’t you have some purse snatchers to arrest or something?”

Smirking, Tina said, “Probably. I have been handling your work load since you’ve been on leave so-”

She jumped off the desk just as Gavin made a move to dump the coffee on her. Laughing, she waved at the men as she walked away.

“Pain in my ass,” Gavin muttered.

“I think that was Detective Chen’s way of saying she missed you,” Connor commented, still at Gavin’s desk. He folded his hands behind his back now that they were free of the mug. “She hasn’t been in such a good mood in a while. Since you’ve been gone.” Connor paused and looked at Gavin who was studiously avoiding his eyes. “Detective Reed, you and I have not had a chance to really speak since-”

“You don’t have to do this,” Gavin cut in, forcing himself to look up at Connor.

Tilting his head to the side, Connor said. “Do what, exactly?”

“This,” Gavin said and waved a hand between them. “Or this.” He pointed to the mug in his hands. “You don’t have to thank me. You don’t have to say anything, or make me coffee.” He tilted the mug back and forth, then looked back down to regard the dark liquid. “Nines started making it for me as a peace offering, back when we were constantly at each other’s throats. He was annoyingly good at it, and I’m really particular about my coffee so…” He suddenly stopped speaking, not sure what else to say.

“You risked your life for me,” Connor began tentatively.

“I’m a cop, I risk my life for people I barely know every day,” Gavin replied, looking back up at him and keeping his gaze steady. When Connor remained silent, Gavin continued. “You know why I did what I did, don’t you?”

Connor paused, his LED spinning a sunrise yellow, before he nodded. “I am aware. Nines and I have had several conversations before and after you’ve awoken.”

Gavin nodded back, and then lifted the mug. “Great. So, you just keep doing your thing with Nines, and we’ll call it all good. Okay?” He took a sip and raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Not bad.” When Connor gave him a suspicious look, Gavin said, “I’ll tell Nines it was shit though. He’s weirdly protective about being the only person to make me coffee.”

Slowly, Connor relaxed and offered Gavin a small smirk. “Then you will have to finish your beverage fast, detective. Nines is on his way up to this floor right now.”

“Now?” Gavin exclaimed and stood up quickly, then buckled over in agony after feeling a strong, tight pull from the stitches. He grasped his side, and sucked in a painful groan, hoping he hadn’t torn anything.

“Detective,” Connor exclaimed and rushed over, about to place a hand on his shoulder. He stopped when Hank suddenly appeared to step up beside Gavin, wrapping a hand around his bicep.

“Hank,” Connor said and stopped where he stood. “I didn’t realize you had returned from your meeting.”

Hank patted Gavin almost roughly on the back, smirking as he watched him wince with every touch. “Just got in,” Hank said and looked up at Connor with a soft smile before turning back to Gavin. “Not ready for my early bird special quite yet.”

Gavin growled out a few swears through clenched teeth, then tried to stand up straighter.

“Fowler wants you in his office,” Hank said, and tugged Gavin sideways a bit. “Now.”

“Jesus, fine,” Gavin gasped, his face pale and his hands trembling as the pain slowly subsided. He yanked his arm away from Hanks grasp and stalked slowly but steadily towards the office. Behind him, he heard Hank and Connor exchange a few words, but ignored them to focus on where he was going.

He had an idea of what Fowler wanted to talk about, and almost wished Nines had found him first so he could have let the android drag him back home before Hank caught him.

When he arrived at the glass office he ran a hand quickly through his hair and tugged nervously at his t-shirt, trying to remember if it was a clean one, before he stepped up and opened the door. “You wanted to see me, Captain?”

“Come in,” Fowler said when he looked up and saw Gavin at the entrance, waving a hand holding a gold tinted pen inwards. Fowler was no luddite, but he often preferred making notes the old fashioned way.

As Gavin stepped inside, he went to close the door, then stopped when he felt someone grab the metal handle. He turned and saw Hank was right behind him, smirking.

“Does he really need to be here?” Gavin muttered as he took a chair in front of the captain’s desk. He frowned when Hank walked to stand beside Fowler’s chair, his arms crossed and a blank expression on his face.

“Considering it was his partner who was nearly killed, yes,” Fowler said, putting his pen down before laying his hands on the table. “I was going to wait until you were back from leave, but since you decided to pay us a visit I thought no time like the present.” Fowler turned his computer screen around so that it faced Gavin, and pointed to the file being displayed. “I’ve read the report you’ve given, Gavin, but I want to hear from yourself the thrilling tale of how you decided to subvert standard procedure, attack a fellow officer, and get yourself and Connor nearly killed in the process.”

Gavin held back an aggravated growl and instead snapped, “There’s nothing else to add. I fucked up, okay? You want my badge and gun, fine. You want to suspend me? Fine.”

“Not fine,” Fowler shot back. “I know you, Gavin. I’ve known you a long ass time. And the actions of the detective in this report don’t jive with the man in front of me. There wasn’t a single incident that indicated to anyone Munroe was dirty, but I’ll bet my pension what isn’t in this report,” he angrily jabbed his finger at his computer, “is that you sniffed him out ages ago.”

Gavin remained silent, looking at the wall above Fowler’s head.

Quietly, Fowler said, “I know you know bad when you see it, and you saw bad there, didn’t you, Gavin?”

Forcing himself to look back at his Captain, Gavin said, “He had his sights set on Nines first. Didn’t know why at the time, but I got that much after talking with Munro once. And what I heard I didn’t like, okay? When I finally got him to back off I thought that was the end of it.” He ran a trembling hand across his face, the memories of Connor in the storage unit coming back to him. “If I knew for a second that Connor or anyone else was next I would have said something. It was never about protecting Nines over the other androids.”

“That’s not what we thought,” Hank said, his voice surprising soft.

All that did was piss Gavin off even more.

“Of course you did. You know Nines is my…partner.” He looked up at Hank knowingly. “And you know I think Connor is a pain in the ass,” he paused. “Sometimes.”

“You were trying to protect Nines,” Hank continued. “Went about it in a shit way, but you know when you start choosing the partner over the job, that’s when trouble starts.”

“Message received,” Gavin finally grit out, trying to hold back a few choice words about how Hank damn near chose his partner over the job in the storage unit, and he helped stop him. But he didn’t say that. It wasn’t worth the battle.

Fowler sighed and looked up at Hank. “So, what do you think?”

Hank regarded Gavin, who stared defiantly back at him.

“I think we can make it work,” Hank said, then placed his hand on Fowler’s shoulder, a pleased smile on his face. “But the bet is still on.”

Growling out a scoff, Fowler shoved Hank’s hand off him and said, “Fine. Get out here. We’re done.”

Hank just laughed and left the office, letting the door shut behind him.

 _Crazy fucker_ , Gavin thought to himself before turning back to Fowler.

“Let’s call an extended medical leave your suspension,” Fowler said. “And when you’re cleared, desk duty for another two weeks.”

Holding back a groan, Gavin just nodded. He was getting off easy, and he knew it.

Sighing in resignation he said, “Yes, sir.”

“When you come back I’ll need you to report to Hank. We just got word from the commissioner that Anderson, Connor, Nines and a couple other androids and officers have permission to update the Android Unit into a full fledged task force with the sole-focus on android homicides. Nines will get you up to speed.”

Gavin raised an eyebrow in surprise. “Sir?”

Fowler folded his hands together in front of him. “That Munroe, as back-ass crazy as he was, was able to infiltrate the police ranks and take off with one of my officers in my precinct does not sit well with me or the brass, Gavin. At all.” He sat back in his chair. “These anti-android hate crimes are getting worse and more organized, and I doubt the people committing them are going to care about who gets hurt in the process of fulfilling their goals to take out the androids. I want them taken care of first, Gavin. And you and Hank have got personal stake in making sure that happens.” He waited a beat. “Got it?”

Despite being shocked that he was being given an opportunity instead of the demotion he expected, Gavin nodded. “Yes, sir.”

“Fine. Get out of here,” Fowler waved Gavin towards the door and went back to his computer.

Gingerly, Gavin stood and began heading for the door. When he reached out for the handle he paused. “Sir?”

“What?” Fowler asked, not looking up from his computer.

Gavin paused, then asked, “What’s the bet?”

Finally turning to Gavin, Fowler gave him a small smirk, “That you’ll deck Hank within a week of you two working together, and he’s going to take medical leave as a vacation just to piss me off.”

“Hank’s such a pain in the ass,” Gavin growled. 

Fowler laughed. “Yeah. But he’s your problem now.”

 _Fuck me_ , Gavin thought to himself, then exited the office.

When he finished going down the stairs he began heading back to his desk, then stopped.

“Nines,” Gavin said when he saw his partner waiting at the bottom of the steps for him. His arms were folded and his face had a stormy expression on it.

“Gavin,” Nines said curtly. “Funny seeing you here.”

“Fucking hilarious,” Gavin said, and gritted his teeth to keep from panting in pain. “I know what you’re thinking.”

“That you’re an idiot?” Nines said, unable to keep the slightest bit of fondness out of his voice, he walked up beside Gavin. He slid his arm around his waist and helped him back towards his desk, despite Gavin’s initial insistence that he was fine. When Gavin sat back down in his desk chair, Nines reached into his pocket and pulled out a small prescription bottle. He held out the bottle to Gavin, an expectant look on his face.

Gavin quirked an eyebrow up at his boyfriend before reluctantly taking the pain meds. He hated how the medicine’s side effects made him feel, weak and disoriented, but he knew he had overtaxed himself too much by coming to the precinct, and didn’t want to risk re-injuring himself.

“I had a feeling I’d be seeing you today,” Nines said, his LED spinning a calm yellow.

“Oh yeah?” Gavin asked as he opened the bottle. “Here I was thinking you knew I was at work because you had some kind of dog tracking chip implanted in me when I was in the hospital.” He meant it as a joke, and after he threw back the white pill and chased it down with Connor’s now cold coffee, he was surprised to see Nines’ face remained unchanged.

“Nines?” He tentatively asked after he swallowed. Suddenly nervous, he felt a bit of panic rising as he slammed the coffee mug down and exclaimed, “Nines, did you fucking-”

Cutting him off, Nines abruptly stood and said, “If you’re insistent on not spending the day resting, as you should be, then might I suggest we spend some time apartment hunting, as the saying goes.” He reached out a hand, offering Gavin help to stand.

When Gavin only looked at him in surprise, Nines continued. “I believe you said we could look for a place near a garden? I have found three viable locations with available units we can peruse today.”

Once again, by simply being himself, Nines had overridden every bit of logic Gavin had built his life upon to take him in a whole new direction.

Over a year ago, if someone had told Gavin he would be in a relationship with an android and would risk his career and life, to him both one and the same, to make sure that android was safe, he would have arrested them for being on drugs. 

And yet here Gavin was, agreeing to look at apartments near gardens because it made Nines happy.

“You’re such a pain in the ass,” Gavin said and took Nines hands, slowly standing back up. “I love you."

Nines grinned wide, and tilted his head towards the elevator. “We’ll get you some lunch while we’re out.”

Gavin's stomach voiced it's opinion on that idea. "I'll love you even more if we can get Tacos?"

As they walked towards the exit Nines laughed softly, and Gavin's heart twisted at how much he loved the sound.

"It's good to know your love can be bought," Nines joked and pushed the button on the elevator to head towards the main floor. 

_Only by you_ , Gavin thought and walked into the elevator with Nines, smiling.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this story! I hope you all enjoyed the ending. I'm sorry it was so late to come.
> 
> I hope to get out another short story in this series soon!


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